What Then Is Freedom?
by Quillandwand
Summary: As unlikely a pair as they are, they somehow work - even on the days when work screws you over and a dragon manages to nearly knock you out.


The sun was just setting, bathing the Romanian Dragon Reserve in golden light, crickets chirping as they always did in the summer. The whole reserve seemed to have settled down for the evening already, with only two figures making their way back to their flat on the outskirts of the next village over. The slightly shorter, stockier man of the two was touching his side as though it was hurting, his companion looking over at him and shaking his head.

"You've been a Dragon Keeper for how long now?" Sirius asked Charlie, a teasing tone to his voice just as they reached the outskirts of the town, still a couple minutes walk away from their place. "If you don't shape up, you'll be stuck with the rookies again soon."

Charlie flipped him off and said, "Fuck off, Sirius, or do you want me to remind you of the time one of the _hatchlings_ set your hair on fire?" Sirius narrowed his eyes while a grin spread on Charlie's face.

"How about the time you nearly lost your leg to that Welsh Green because you just couldn't stop showing off to the new Keepers?" Charlie's ears reddened ever so slightly - that had been the year Sirius had joined them, pretty much straight after the war.

"At least no dragon ever escaped on my watch," he retorted, and Sirius rolled his eyes.

"If _someone_ hadn't stepped on a rake and hit himself in the face that wouldn't have happened, and you know it." Sirius shot him a pointed look, but Charlie just shrugged, grinning because this was a story Sirius was never going to live down. He followed him into their flat, but as soon as he'd closed the door behind them, he was being pressed up against it, Sirius kissing him hard before pulling back, his eyes flashing and whispering, "Still winning this year. Less accidents than you so far."

Charlie buried his hand in Sirius hair, shorter than it had been years ago, but still long enough to tug at it the way he liked. As he pulled at it Sirius' head tipped back, and Charlie dragged his lips over his throat, sucking hard on his neck, his teeth grazing against the skin. Sirius drew a ragged breath, roughly pushing his hands under Charlie's shirt before trailing them down his stomach to his belt. Charlie sucked a little harder when Sirius wouldn't get a move on, making him chuckle and unbuckle his belt, opening his jeans only to pull them down a little, palming his growing erection through the fabric of his boxers. Letting go of Sirius' hair and bucking his hips into the touch, Charlie pulled Sirius' jeans down, pushing his hand past the waistband of his boxers.

"Been waiting for this all day, eh? That's why you didn't pay enough attention with the Ridgeback?" Even though his hand was wrapped around the man's cock, stroking up and down, Sirius somehow managed to keep his head about him, whispering in his ear that he was lucky they hadn't been paired that day considering the stunt he'd pulled. Sirius' rough voice went straight to his cock, making him strain against his boxers. A detail not missed by Sirius, but his chuckle turned into a moan when Charlie twisted his hand just so.

"Yeah, thought of all the ways to finally make you shut up."

"As if that's difficult, but I can see how that would distract you," Sirius said, cocking an eyebrow, but before he could retort anything Sirius kissed him again, their tongues sliding against each other. A moment later, Sirius kissed along his cheek and throat and went down on his knees, pulling down his jeans and boxers. As soon as Sirius licked along the underside of his cock, Charlie's hands flew into his hair and he bucked his hips, fucking his willing mouth. Sirius ran a hand up his thigh, palming his balls before running his finger over his perineum. Charlie lost his rhythm for a moment, moaning as Sirius' fingers massaged the stretch of skin that had always been one of his most sensitive spots. He felt him hum around his cock, amused that it was still so easy to distract him.

Sirius used that moment to take back control, holding him in place with his free hand as he pulled back, only licking his cock a few times before sucking one of his balls into his mouth. Charlie drew a shuddering breath, his heart beating fast as he looked down at Sirius, his cool grey eyes fully focused on him.

"You're fucking hot," he muttered running his fingers through Sirius' hair as he swallowed his length once more, the hand that had been holding him in place just a moment earlier pumping the base of his cock now. He tried not to buck his hips again, but it became more difficult with every passing second, Sirius drawing moans from him, his lips, tongue and hands so insistent. Charlie tugged at Sirius' hair after a few minutes, but only at a harder tug did he pull back and look up at Charlie's face, eyes drawn to the way he licked his lips. He gave Sirius a lopsided grin before he pulled his shirt over his head, toeing off his shoes, jeans and boxers.

Sirius watched him, catching on quickly enough and getting up himself, undressing without any rush. His hands ran over each new exposed stretch of scarred and tattooed skin - so much like his own tattoo-covered body, yet so different. Meanwhile, Sirius only touched the bruise on his side, already dark purple even though he'd only been hit by that Ridgeback's tail this afternoon.

Sirius' eyes snapped up to his and he swallowed hard at the look he gave him before pushing him around, his chest pressing against the door as his feet were nudged apart. Sirius stood behind him, his hand running over his arse, muttering a spell that left his fingers slick with lube as he circled his entrance, first pushing one digit in, the next moment a second one following. Charlie's forehead dropped against the door, and he moaned softly, thrusting back because Sirius was taking this painfully slowly. His hand curled around his hip, holding him in place while he kept up the pace, stopping only when Charlie pushed back again.

"Patience," Sirius said, swatting his arse sharply, drawing another moan from him. Even so, Sirius cast that lubrication spell again and when Charlie glanced back he saw him stroke his own cock before moving closer. Sirius' chest pressed against his back, his lips trailing over his neck, biting down as he thrust into him. He braced against the door with his forearm, his forehead against it as Sirius pushed into him a little faster, brushing against his prostate with every stroke, the pleasure slowly building.

After a little while, when Sirius simply kept up his pace and didn't go any faster, Charlie moved his hand down to his cock, but it was caught by Sirius, who pinned it against the door above his head. Sirius might not have been quite as muscular as him, but he definitely had the height advantage and he liked using it whenever he could.

"Merlin's pants, then fuck me properly at least," Charlie said, not quite able to keep the moan out of his voice despite the fact that Sirius wasn't taking him as hard as he wanted. "One little bruise is not going to kill me." Sirius growled, letting go of Charlie's hand instead pulling at his hair and pounding into him a few times, his other hand splaying across his stomach. A moment later, Sirius went back to the slower pace, making Charlie groan, "Harder, _please_."

"Just. Like. This?" Each word was accompanied by a hard thrust, Sirius tugging at his hair once more before he ran his hand down his side, curling it around his hip.

"Just like that," Charlie sighed, his breathing growing more uneven every time Sirius pushed into him, hard and fast, not letting up now. Sirius kissed along his neck, his breathing just as heavy as his own, their skin covered in a thin sheen of sweat by now. The puffs of Sirius' breath felt almost cool on his skin, making a shiver run down his spine and goosebumps break out across his skin, moaning, "Oh, fuck me."

Sirius huffed a laugh, "I thought that's what we're doing." Charlie chuckled, digging his nails into the door when Sirius' hand moved from his stomach to his cock, pumping up and down in time with his thrusts.

"You always make me come so fast," Sirius moaned in his ear, still fucking him hard, but his movement growing erratic, Charlie equally close. A few more snaps of his hips and Sirius came, shuddering against him, lips pressed against his neck. Charlie wasn't far behind, groaning and thrusting a couple more times into Sirius' hand as he came, not wanting that moment of bliss to be over so quickly.

The two of them sunk on the ground together, Charlie turning around and wrapping an arm around Sirius, pushing his sweaty hair out of his face. Both of them were trying to catch their breath, but before either of them could get too uncomfortable, Sirius dug around his jeans for his wand, casting a cleaning charm on them, so the inevitable shower could be postponed for a moment.

The two of them sat in silence, their breathing slowly going back to normal and they very nearly dozed off. It had been a long day, an eventful day, but they did still have to get dinner. Just as Charlie's head was tipping sideways onto Sirius' shoulder, he squeezed his hand and mumbled, "Come on, Charlie, can't stay here forever." Groaning as they got up, Sirius stretched once back on his feet before pulling on his boxers. "I'll make some pasta?"

After collecting his clothes, not bothering to put his boxers back on, Charlie kissed Sirius' cheek and said, "Thanks, I'll be right back. Just gonna have a quick shower." By the time, he'd come back out of their shared bathroom clad in boxers and a t-shirt, Sirius had already cooked some fresh pasta, heating up some of their left-over bolognese from the previous day. They chatted about the newer additions to the reserve and the new hatchlings from the last round of nests, most of which were doing well, but there were always one or two cases that needed extra attention and care. There was one Chinese Fireball in particular that Charlie was worried about, but they both knew there was nothing they could do to guarantee he'd make it.

Biting his lip and leaning back in his chair once he'd finished his pasta, he said, "I don't want to lose another one. We've not been doing well with the Fireballs in particular and that has to change." Sirius nodded, running a hand through his hair and sighing. The Dragon Keepers had discussed this many times over the last year or so, but so far they hadn't been able to figure out why tried and tested methods weren't working so well with the Chinese Fireballs anymore.

"I'm too tired for this tonight," Sirius said after a moment, finishing his last few bites of dinner before pushing his plate away and watching Charlie, who merely nodded. "Right, gonna have an early night if you don't mind." One last soft, lingering kiss and Sirius was off to take a shower himself and then head to bed while Charlie took care of the washing up.

A couple of hours later, Charlie stood in the doorway to Sirius' room. They each still had their own bedroom, but most nights they ended up in the same bed anyway. That was what normally happened, but there were those nights, far and few in between, when they needed their space, and he wondered if this was one of those nights for Sirius. In the end, he did slip under the covers next to him, the other man automatically curling up against his side, not even waking once.

* * *

When Charlie woke up hours later, but still way too early in the morning for a Saturday, he found himself alone in Sirius' bed. Groaning and burying his face in the pillows for a moment, he took a few deep breaths before getting up, wondering where he'd find Sirius at this time of day. Padding around barefoot, he first checked his own room, then the living room and kitchen, but they were empty. Frowning ever so slightly, he went back to his own bedroom and stuck his head out of their rooftop window to find Sirius sitting there, looking out east to where the sun would rise between the mountains in a little while. With a sigh, he climbed up next to him, sitting down and stealing the Butterbeer bottle he was nursing to take a sip himself. Sirius didn't say anything only raising his eyebrow at him, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

"You alright?" he asked when Sirius didn't say anything still, glancing at him from the side.

"Nightmares."

"It's been a while since you had any," Charlie said, unable to keep the surprise out of his voice and Sirius nodded. For the last couple of years, Sirius only had to deal with the nightmares around Hallowe'en, which was bad enough, but better than when they'd first started things, in the middle of the war, when Sirius had been terrified for Harry and what could happen to his godson every single day.

"Just needed some room to breathe." Charlie hummed, placing a soft kiss on Sirius' shoulder before leaning back on his elbows and looking up in the sky, content to be quiet as he counted the fading stars. He'd lost count of how often they'd sat like this after a few years, with or without alcohol, in the middle of the night or the early hours of the morning. Sometimes watching the sunset, sometimes the sunrise, sometimes talking, sometimes silent like today.

With anyone else he would have found a relationship like they had unbearably sappy, but with Sirius it worked - most days anyway and that was more than he'd thought possible.

* * *

 _A/N: Heya everyone!_

 _This is a story I finished over the summer for a fanfic fest that really pushed me to write something I hadn't written before and hadn't even considered before (this ship, specifically). This was actually meant to be a bigger story, but in the end I could only finish this much of it, but I'd like to go back to it at some point and give it the time and care it deserves (:_

 _I know Charlie/Sirius isn't the most common of pairings, but the more I thought about them for this one little prompt for the fanfic fest, the more I liked them, especially seeing as they feature pretty prominently in my actual long fic Growing Up Is Optional haha_

 _Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this! Let me know what you think :D_


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